Resolutions
by Sgt.Pepperony
Summary: Two stories resolving some problems for Alec and Ellie. One slightly more uplifting than the other. [Part 12 of New Memories, New Life] *Complete*
1. Saving a Mockingbird

Title: Resolutions  
Author: SgtPepperony  
Fandom: Broadchurch  
Rating: T  
Pairing: Alec/Ellie (established)  
Disclaimer: Do not own characters. All property to ITV and Chibnall. Image not owned by me.

So I have two small stories here that are… Let's just say I am still on the angst kick (blame Nannyogg) even though the first one is a bit more uplifting. It's just resolving two major plot threads that I had from Missing Peaces and And Sent Him Homeward.

* * *

Saving a Mockingbird

Fred had come down with appendicitis. Alec knew there had to be something seriously wrong with Fred since he usually maintained a Duracell bunny exuberance, even with a stomach bug, but Fred had complained about a sore tummy and then cried one evening. Having had peritonitis as a result of a ruptured appendix himself, Alec had immediately rushed Fred to A&E after checking Fred's temperature. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten to that point but he had to have surgery to remove the offending organ. By the next morning the little boy was in recovery and asleep. Alec had finally fallen asleep when he got a call, snapping him awake.

"Hullo," he grumbled. The cheery voice on the other end of the line wasn't Ellie, but a doctor he had met months back. Since they had found a mutation in Alec's DNA that was linked to his heart condition and he had a family history with the same condition, it was thought wise to get Daisy tested for the mutation. Alec listened intently and nodded. "Right well, thanks for that."

Ellie walked in just as Alec hung up, "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"You want to go home?"

"No, it's fine. I was just thinking back to when mine burst." Ellie had been told the story when she asked how he had gotten the scar on his stomach. She had been told how seriously ill he had become, how he eventually collapsed during a briefing on a new case and how it might have triggered the heart condition. "I can't imagine what would happen if I hadn't gotten him here in time."

"Well, you did and he is going to be fine. Mind you, we end up worrying about the one who is not even born yet," she said as she put her hand on her stomach, "and then the youngest gets ill."

"Come here." Ellie went and sat on his lap. "She is absolutely fine, and as you said, Fred is going to be okay."

"I know."

"You and your hormones eh."

She kissed him, and Alec snaked his arm around her back to pull her close. At that point, Fred made a whimper from the bed. Ellie, less than elegantly, climbed off Alec, almost kneeing him in the groin in the process.

"Hey, how is Mummy's little soldier?" she cooed.

"Tummy still hurts."

"I think it might just be sore from where they took it out."

"Want to go home."

"You will honey." Ellie kissed his head, stroking his curls. "You'll have a tiny little scar and a very good excuse for Daddy to buy you and me lots of ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Yeah. You want a cuddle?" Fred nodded and Ellie got on the bed, Fred immediately snuggled up against his mother. "It's okay Freddy, Mummy and Daddy are here."

A few hours later, Alec was reading a book to Fred with all the voices, while Ellie was napping beside Fred. Fred seemed to be a bit more upbeat so it was clear he was on the mend and the nurse would be around later with some food, so if he ate it okay then he would be okay to go home that afternoon.

"The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said, 'Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.' So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said, 'Little pig, little pig, let me come in.' 'No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.' 'Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.' Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed and huffed-"

Someone knocked the door at that point, which when Alec looked up turned out to be Daisy, "Hey how's the wee man?"

Fred put his little thumb up.

"Listen mate, I need to speak to Daisy, so you mind that we pause the stories?" Alec asked. Fred nodded and Alec climbed out of the chair and went out the room.

Daisy's face became rather serious, "What's going on Dad?"

"It's about your test results. They came back." Daisy felt her heart stop as she waited for her fate to be told to her. "You're going to be fine. They couldn't find the gene."

"Are you serious?"

"Completely, hand on heart."

Daisy was not sure whether to jump for joy or cry in relief that she wasn't going to end up seriously ill or having to worry about getting ill. The most she could do was fling herself onto her father and hug him tightly. It had been an anxious wait, distracted by colour schemes, other genetic tests and Fred starting school, but it had been at the back of their minds.

"It's okay," Alec soothed. "It's going to be okay."

"Sorry, I thought it wouldn't affect me so badly to know it was negative."

"I'm relieved as well. Well, seeing as I have to take Fred and Ellie to get ice cream, you want some too?"

"I'll text Tom and see if he wants to come."

"More the merrier."


	2. Shooting a Bluejay

Shooting a Bluejay

She knew that this was a bad idea. She's ten weeks off her due date and on the verge of having high blood pressure. However Ellie knew that if she didn't set the record straight then Joe could easily try to hurt them like last time. Breaking into the Latimer's house was one thing but then he hurt Daisy and still tried to bleat his innocence. Tom had shopped his own father to the police but it hadn't really stopped Joe from trying to reach out to Tom by means of visiting orders. Tom had ripped them all up. Alec and Ellie were aware of this and Ellie had enough, despite Alec's protest that he'd do it but Ellie knew he would only listen to her. She booked this visit and she wasn't going to leave until Joe got it in his head that they were no longer family.

Joe was very worst for wear when she sees him: unshaven, black eye forming, a lot thinner the but still looks hopeful until he sees her stomach. It only dropped a little bit because he tried to hug her.

"Don't you dare touch me," she warned. "I'm only here to tell you to stop harassing my son."

"Our son. Don't think you can change a birth certificate without proving that I am not his biological father."

"It does change when it comes to adoption."

"You can't do that without my permission."

"I can if I can prove you are too dangerous and unfit to be a parent. Considering you're in here on breaking and entering and assault charges, I think the court saw it my way. Fred doesn't even know who you are, and Tom hates you. I gave him the option and he took it. You have no rights to them anymore."

"What did you do with those visiting orders?"

"I didn't do anything; Tom ripped them up and threw them away."

"You're lying."

"I'm not the lier here Joe. I'm also not the one who killed an eleven year old boy."

"I-"

"Yes you did Joe. You willingly confessed and decided you were too big a coward to face the consequences. Are you really that wrapped in guilt that you rammed a small seventeen year old girl into a wall because she knows what you truly are?" Ellie put her hand on her stomach, the baby kicking beneath her hand. "You never protested the divorce. Why? You still wear your bloody wedding ring."

"I never opened the letters."

"Right. Course you didn't. You are still under a delusion that you can just win me back. Even though it has been three bloody years and I am married to a man who I love very much, who is a great dad to the boys and his daughter and surely will be a great one to our daughter. I know you are coming out soon but I swear if you try to come back to Broadchurch there will be hell to pay. It's over Joe. There is nothing left for you out there."

The resolve Joe had been maintaining started to crack, "We could have been a family again."

"And how would I live with myself? The woman - the copper - who took her murderous husband back. I would lose my job, my friends and any self respect I have. You were a good dad but you ruined it the second you started your twisted friendship with Danny."

"It wasn't like that."

"You were in love with an eleven year old boy. Even if you hadn't killed him, we would still have ended up divorced."

"You don't mean that."

"I do. I really mean it. Maybe you should actually think about how you almost ruined our lives rather than think about yourself."

"Almost."

"Well, had it not been for Tom and Fred I would have considered ending it all. Alec and I are happy. I'm happy more than I ever was with you. I have my sons, a stepdaughter and a little girl coming so if you think you can take that away again then you are surely mistaken."

With that Joe's resolve cracked. She has left him with nothing to try to get back but he has one last go, "I love you El."

"Tough shit. You should have stayed away but you only proved to Tom how capable you are at killing. Daisy - the girl you hurt - has nightmares about your face sometimes. You need to start seeing pass the end of your nose."

Ellie walked away. Joe didn't call after her.

-o-

Ellie walked in the house and all she wanted was a bath and her bed. Then she heard noises coming from the study. She was beginning to regret having the bed up two flights of stairs as she was puffed out after four steps. By the time she'd gotten to the top floor, she discovered the cot was half put together and the walls covered in a very pale pink and the various other furniture was still packed. Alec looked close to falling asleep as well.

"Thought you would have been finished by now," she commented.

"Would have had Fred not nicked the instructions." He looked up at her and smiled sympathetically. "How was it?"

"He's still deluded. He even tried to hug me and tell me he loves me." She felt sick just saying that. "I think I got the message through in the end."

"Good." Alec stood and went over to her. "Am I okay to give you a hug?"

"Course you are you daft idiot." Alec enveloped her as much as he could and Ellie breathed in his scent: musky from probably having ran around after Fred. "I should go talk to Tom."

"He's out with friends. You may as well do it tomorrow." She felt his lips press against her hair. "You want a bath?"

"Yeah."

"Okay I'll run you one then I will order some Chinese while you soak."

"I love you."

Alec pressed his lips against hers softly then went to run the bath. The baby moved under her hand and Ellie smiled.

-o-

Ellie is fast asleep when her phone rings in the middle of the night. She answered it quietly so Alec isn't disturbed but the news she hears down the phone makes her heart stop: Joe had been found barely alive in his cell following an assault. From the sound of it, it looked as though he had allowed them to do it.

"Ellie what's going on?" Alec whispered when she hung up.

"It was the prison. Joe nearly got beaten to death. They said I was listed as next of kin so they thought they'd let me know if anything happened."

"Do you really want to know?"

"I don't really know. If he doesn't live then I will have to tell Tom."

"Okay." Alec wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. "Just try to sleep okay."

She nods but she's barely able to return to sleep, thoughts of Joe's last plea for her to come back to him swirling in her head and making her nauseous.

The prison called two days later to tell them that Joe had sustained a massive head trauma that they couldn't do anything about and was going to be taken off the life support. Ellie decided she needed to speak to Tom now, because regardless of the legality Joe was still his biological father and the man who had raised Tom for eleven years.

"He's going to die. At eleven tomorrow morning. So do you want to go to see him?" Ellie asked.

Tom is sitting on his bed the same way he was when Ellie told him that Joe had killed Danny. He looked so different to then: a good foot and a half taller. His eyes are just as defeated as they were back then.

"Will he even know I'm there?"

"No. He's in a coma."

"No point. The only thing I would have said to him had he been awake was that I hoped he went to hell."

Ellie would never wish it on anyone but she knows she would have said the same but there was the funeral, "What about the funeral?"

"I can't. It would feel wrong. We've moved on from him."

"You absolutely sure?"

"Yeah?"

"Okay." She stood and and kissed the top of his head. "When did you become so grown up."

"Mum, don't get all mushy will you because with end up crying."

"Hey, I'm not that hormonal." Downstairs Ellie found Alec washing up. He took one glance and dried his hands so he could pull her in for a hug. "He doesn't want to see him or go to the funeral."

"Probably for the best."

There's a slight catch in her throat, "Sorry. I just got reminded of what Beth told him when we exiled him: no one would be there to mourn him when he dies."

"Well, I think mourning him would mean forgiving him, and what he did was unforgivable. As much as I hated my father for what he did, it would never be as bad as what Joe did to you, which is why I found it a bit easier to forgive him in the end."

"Yeah. It's odd though. I spent fourteen years with the man, twelve of those as his wife. Yet all I know is that if I saw him right here right now, I would pull the plug on him. That scares me a bit."

"If it makes you feel better, I still want to smash his head on that interview room table."

"You've never said this before."

"He hurt you and Tom and I was angry at him because he'd gone and wrecked two families in one fell swoop. I could have killed him when he hurt Daisy. I don't know what would have happened if we hadn't come through that door and I sometimes get nightmares of finding Joe standing over her dead body."

"You would really kill for that girl wouldn't you?"

"And you, Tom, Fred and this one," he said putting his hand on her bump. "But the more I think about it, the more I wonder how much it would cost me, because if I lost the love of the five of you then I don't think I could go on." Tears started welling in Ellie's eyes and she sobbed softly on his shoulder. "Hey, what's all this about?"

"I'm just fucking relieved that I don't have to worry about him coming back anymore."

She felt him kiss her head, soothing his hands over her back, "I am too. He can't hurt you anymore."


	3. Turtledoves

Turtledoves

Alec parked up outside the house and smiled. The house looked like it had been visited by Father Christmas's elves because Daisy and Ellie had spent the day decorating the house with Christmas decorations as well as putting up the tree. Well, he imagined Daisy had gotten Tom to help since Ellie had been ordered to rest some more. Seven more weeks until the baby would arrive and Ellie looked beautiful sitting on the sofa, a mug resting on her large belly with such a happy glow on her face. There was an ache in his heart though. Not because he had been dealt bad news, but it was a real head scratcher because Alec didn't know what to do. His CS had walked in his office just as he was leaving and had offered him Detective Chief Inspector. For a moment he considered accepting the job but then he had a sudden realisation: it meant more hours. More hours in a different town, therefore more hours away from his family and with the baby coming, Alec wondered what he really wanted.

If he was still married to Tess then he would consider it. They wouldn't have been able to have more kids and Daisy would have been at university so it would have been fine. Taking DI when Daisy was seven seemed like the best thing he could have done. Now, he had doubts.

His phone rings and Alec assumed it was his CS about to offer him more money. It was actually Tom, "You going to sit in there all night?"

"Sorry, got distracted."

It was later when he was getting changed for bed that Ellie asked what was going through his head. Making good on his vow of honesty, Alec told her about the offer.

"Alec that's fantastic."

"It is."

"But?"

"It's more hours away from you and the kids, and given that I don't work in Broadchurch, it's not fair for me to leave you in the lurch with two kids under five."

"Well Fred is a big boy now. You'd be stupid not to take the job."

"I'll have to think about it." He climbed into bed with her and begun his night routine of kissing Ellie and then her belly. "Enough about me. How have you been today?"

"Well, aside from a case briefing, I met the guy who is temping for me when I go on maternity leave. Don't like him."

"Why?"

"Well firstly he kept staring at my boobs, then he tried to feel up my stomach."

"I'll kick his arse. Though in his defence, your boobs did look pretty good in that top."

"They feel like wet sandbags. And my feet hurt. And my back."

Alec smiled and moved to give her a foot rub, "I think that might be more a general thing: every one when they see a pregnant woman they have a desire to see if the baby is moving."

"It just feels as though people seem less interested in me than my stomach. It makes me feel really... Unattractive."

"Well it's a good thing you have me," he kissed her and let his tongue peak into her mouth. Ellie moaned and her hands began wandering. "Roll over."

Later that night, Ellie had woken up with the need for the bathroom and had returned to bed with a thought. She poked Alec in the back, stirring him awake.

"What?" he grumbled. "You know where the fridge is if you're hungry."

"I was thinking, why don't you go back into teaching new recruits?"

"Because this country needs new recruits and I am hardly a good teacher. Besides, I hated it. I only took it to pay the child support."

"I'm just thinking, it's in Broadchurch. You have set hours. If you're worried you're going to miss out on the baby's life then..."

"It's not that, Ellie." He turned to her, his eyes tired and bleary. "I was always there for Daisy when she was little because my dad was rarely around. I just don't want this one to feel like I am always putting my work above her."

"She won't Alec."

"I'll have to really think about this won't I?"

"You know I am going to be beside you no matter what you choose."

"I know. Now go back to sleep. You need to rest."

-o-

The next couple days, Alec had not stopped thinking about his offer. He had talked to Daisy and Tom about it but they weren't sure since it wouldn't affect them and that it was ultimately his choice. Ellie had allowed him some space to think. His CS on the other hand was pressing for an answer.

"Alec, come on, most DIs would be jumping at this promotion."

"They don't have young families."

"How old are they?"

Alec presented the photo of Daisy, Tom and Fred together.

"The wee one, Fred, is four. My wife and I are having a girl in a couple months."

"You know you can choose your own hours."

"You don't choose the hours with this job. The hours choose you. So does parenthood. When my first daughter was born I had to take a good four months off because she was really sick. I was a DS then in Manchester. She had to come first."

Alec thought back to those days almost just under eighteen years ago when he had returned to work after four months of leave. He knew it was a bad idea because he had spent the next month in such an anxious state his DI had to refer him to for trauma counselling. It was probably a good thing he wasn't cleared for active duty and he had gotten a surprising amount of paperwork done. It wasn't difficult though to see Daisy since the hospital was only around the corner from where he worked in Manchester. It didn't really help.

"Earth to DI Hardy. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think I have just made my choice."

-o-

Ellie was snoozing in bed with a book on her belly when Alec returned home. He smiled and sat on the bed beside her. He took the book off her stomach and she rolled over, putting her head on his chest.

"You smell nice," she mumbled.

"I need a shower," he chuckled into her hair. "Did the guy temping for you come again today?"

"Yeah, he needed to get to know our systems. I don't know why. It's the same as any other system in the county. I think he's just coming for my tits."

"Well, I'll make sure that he keeps in line."

"How you going to do that?"

"Well, as soon as the baby is born, I am moving to the DCI position in Broadchurch."

"Oh that's nice." She snuggled closer to his chest but then opened her eyes and sat up to look at him in shock. "What?"

"I said I would take it, but only if there was a closer position to home. Fortunately, I heard from a little bird that there was a position at Broadchurch constabulary. I can at least be a stone's throw a

"Do you get a fancy office?"

"I don't think we're allowed to have nooners in there if that's what you're thinking."

"Doesn't mean we couldn't if we tried. Granted, once I push this one out I don't think I'll want to touch you for six months."

"You happy about this? Me being your boss again?"

"Well, ground rules. If we argue, we don't drag the kids into it."

"Is that the only rule?"

"Well, I quite like the idea of giving your bum a squeeze when no one is looking. And maybe a quick snog. But, yeah. It'll be nice to have you near home for once." She leaned up to kiss him and then giggled as she felt her stomach being kicked. "I think someone else thinks it'll be nice to have her daddy nearby as well."

He smiled and kissed her. For once it looked like everything was perfect.


End file.
